Standing Up Against Bullying

A group of Galileo students won third place in the campaign “Not On Our Ground; Not In Our Town” to promote standing up against bullying hosted by The Warriors at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center on Feb 29. The team led by Teddy Almaguer, Jennifer Dao, and Kelly Lau, created a video about the importance of decision-making when it comes to bullying. The ‘Not On Our Ground; Not In Our Town’ is a national campaign that features many high schools and universities in the United States.

Students from Mr. Machtay and Ms. Alacon’s class were given a ride by a charter bush to attend the event in Oakland. During that time, several guest speakers including radio show hosts, book writers, and a basketball player came to speak to the students. “I think it’s well intentioned. I just think there’s a disconnection because they don’t work with the age groups all the time,” said Ms. Alacon.

Not knowing that this contest is open to everyone, the Video Production Team worked tirelessly on this video. Despite it’s a contest not just open to films, Galileo has managed to win third place.

The video played in the Oakland event featured a skit trying to present an image never ever seen before where the gender of bullies is different. “We tried to differentiate genders: male and female. So the female is the bully,” said Jennifer Dao.

The video also presented a situation where one of its characters is forced to make a critical decision and assess the situation. Jennifer Dao said, “In the video, the bystander has this inter-conflict about what they should do. In the mind it just goes back and fourth: should I help? Should I not help? ”

Even though this campaign is over, students who took the pledge are still expected for what they’ve promised: To stand up against bullying.